This Kickstarter looks to jumpstart development of Defense Grid 2, a sequel to Hidden Path Entertainment's tower defense game. This one has an interesting approach, as there are funding goals to hit along the way. So if they raise $250K, they will create an eight-level expansion for the original Defense Grid; if they raise $500K they will build a new engine for a Defense Grid 2 remake with co-op multiplayer; at $750K they will add a level editor and other platforms; and if the campaign hits the $1M mark, they will be able to create the full sequel of their dreams. Thanks Bob.

short answer about the funding, most of the DG1 money went to paying back the original funding they got for it (they don't say if it was a loan, or publisher, or some investors who had to be paid back)

Dmitri_M wrote on Jul 13, 2012, 19:29:This isn't a criticism, rather an observation on the nitty gritty realities and how awesome it must feel for these guys getting their projects funded.

As a programmer with zero artistic skills, I'm thinking I might actually give a small Kickstarter game project a shot. Create the game itself, put together a reasonably slick presentation, then just KS a small amount to pay for some better art and audio to be created. It's going to have to wait until after my upcoming move though.

Yeah I'm on the 3D art end and after years of jumping between companies, never staying long enough to be promoted into a managerial position I've realised the only real progression I'll be able to achieve is if I go it alone. Now just to come up with an idea I'd like to produce that makes it worth while giving up a stable income..

I've donated to two different kickstarters so far, but I've been thinking about what happens if a game doesn't get made and you donated. Can you imagine the class action lawsuits that could spawn out of this and the forthcoming legal mumbo jumbo you'd have to agree to?

Annex wrote on Jul 13, 2012, 19:49:If you read the kickstarter page, they explain the financial situation and details. To quote what they said:

"We put everything we had into Defense Grid; we wanted the game to be able to reach a lot of people, and looking back we probably sold the game at too low a price. It paid for itís cost, but not enough for us to make DG2 on our own. "

This is a real shame. I liked Defense Grid a lot, but it seems like a lot of companies, even outside of the video games industry, are constantly on the verge of collapse simply because they didn't spend five minutes with anybody with ANY sort of economics background to determine their pricing scheme, regardless of how good their actual product is. (Iron Lore!)

Luckily for these guys, they are going to make a metric shitload through this Kickstarter. I can't even think of anybody I know who plays games who DIDN'T eventually get Defense Grid at some point in one of the various sales.

I'll probably contribute to this Kickstarter if I don't get utterly bled dry by these Steam sales.

Dmitri_M wrote on Jul 13, 2012, 19:29:This isn't a criticism, rather an observation on the nitty gritty realities and how awesome it must feel for these guys getting their projects funded.

As a programmer with zero artistic skills, I'm thinking I might actually give a small Kickstarter game project a shot. Create the game itself, put together a reasonably slick presentation, then just KS a small amount to pay for some better art and audio to be created. It's going to have to wait until after my upcoming move though.

There's several websites where you can get quotes from freelance artists on projects, if thats the direction you want to go.

Dmitri_M wrote on Jul 13, 2012, 19:29:This isn't a criticism, rather an observation on the nitty gritty realities and how awesome it must feel for these guys getting their projects funded.

As a programmer with zero artistic skills, I'm thinking I might actually give a small Kickstarter game project a shot. Create the game itself, put together a reasonably slick presentation, then just KS a small amount to pay for some better art and audio to be created. It's going to have to wait until after my upcoming move though.

According to Steam, I've played the first one for 236 hours. So I'm going to guess I'll probably enjoy another one as well.

Strange that they have to go the crowdsource way, but I guess that's the hip thing to do nowadays.

Edit: The only thing that kinda bugs me is that at $750K, they'll put in cheat protection. Errr, shouldn't you guys have done that to begin with? I played for days to get into the top 10 on my best levels, and when I made it it was fucking awesome (I was #3 and #2 on 2 levels for a little while). Then people found out how to cheat, and suddenly the top 10000 scores are 1273375960392373723 with 132 towers built on a level. Why do we have to pony up money to get you guys to fix this?

I got DG 1 super cheap, like $5. And I got way more out of it than I thought I would. I feel like I owe these guys something for all the enjoyment I got out of the first one, and if $15 is going to help them stay employed and make a sequel and makes it so there's less publisher involvment, so be it. I think this is probably the best way for me to support these guys and what they've done.

Kickstarter is for letting the public decide what projects get funded and which ones don't. Plain and simple.

Except this is a fucking sequel. If nobody bought the first game, nobody will buy the second game. If the first game sold well (and a sequel is justified), where's the money???

If you read the kickstarter page, they explain the financial situation and details. To quote what they said:

"We put everything we had into Defense Grid; we wanted the game to be able to reach a lot of people, and looking back we probably sold the game at too low a price. It paid for itís cost, but not enough for us to make DG2 on our own. "

If you have the programming, design or art talent to produce video games professionally yet you're stuck in a cubicle somewhere under some dumb lead or manager, it becomes a job like any other.

Kickstart a project and you get a couple of thousand people to pay your salary without having to deal with them on a day to day basis? Fantastic. Your boss\"investor" at a distance over the internet rather than two cubicles over? Tremendous.

This isn't a criticism, rather an observation on the nitty gritty realities and how awesome it must feel for these guys getting their projects funded.

Kickstarter is for letting the public decide what projects get funded and which ones don't. Plain and simple.

Except this is a fucking sequel. If nobody bought the first game, nobody will buy the second game. If the first game sold well (and a sequel is justified), where's the money???

You're making a lot of assumptions about where the money went in the case of the first game, and how much of the work done on the first game is able to be used on a sequel. Since apparently they're having to go to a new engine for the sequel, I can see where their trepidation is, especially if they had a fair amount of loans taken out to finance the production of the first game.

That being said, in the case of traditional publishers, yes - the sequel wouldn't be made simply due to doubts about gaining a return on investment. But I thought that was the sort of consideration that people here hated?

Cutter wrote on Jul 13, 2012, 14:56:That's exactly it. That's like that KS by Thomas Jane yesterday. He wants 600k...are you kidding me? He's rich already. KS is not for multi-millionaires who don't want to risk any of their own money. It's for people who have zilch and a good idea. I really don't want to see KS devolve into a place where rich and/or successful companies/people who can actually afford to fund their own projects but simply don't want to so they ask everyone else. People who really need the resources shouldn't have to compete with that nonsense.

Kickstarter is for letting the public decide what projects get funded and which ones don't. Plain and simple. Your lust for pitting the little guy against the big guy seems to have blinded you to that fact.

Tom Jane may be a successful actor and quite wealthy, but he doesn't necessarily know that there's a market for a game based off of a story he wrote. (I'd be more shocked if an actor did know that ahead of time, to be honest.) Just because you have millions doesn't mean you should have to put your own money on the line to make something that nobody wants... if anything, millionaires are millionaires precisely because they do their best to avoid spending money on things that people don't want.

theyarecomingforyou wrote on Jul 13, 2012, 17:40:I'm surprised they give out the keys before it has received funding, as that seems like it's open for abuse (playing a pledge and withdrawing it; getting the game it funding fails). Anyway, I already own the game and all the DLC - does anyone know if it will be added to my inventory or simply be wasted if I add it to Steam?

If you already own it, it won't let you redeem the key. You'd have to copy-paste and give that to somebody if you want to gift or trade the game.

Darks wrote on Jul 13, 2012, 15:06:Iím all for Kickstarter too but not when a developer is purposely trying to put the burden on the consumer and not pull it from their own pockets. To me thatís BS. You sometimes get the feeling these guys are only trying to line their own pockets.

The traditional role of a publisher is to fund the development of a game during production. With DG they funded and published it themselves. There is no doubt that the game had a lot of success - mostly while it was on sale - but we have no idea whether they made enough money to fund the entire development process of a sequel. And the last thing they'd want to do is turn to a publisher who would want a large cut of the takings or rights to the IP. Therefore they turned to KS to pre-fund the development of the game, providing lower tiers in case they were unsuccessful.

You portray them as a super rich, super successful company that is doing this as an insult to their fans when that simply isn't the case. The reality is that fans like myself desperately want them to produce a sequel and would readily buy it. This is a win-win for me - if it doesn't get funded I lose nothing; if it meets minimum funding I get an expansion and help them produce the sequel; if it meets full funding I get the game cheaper than a normal retail release.

I'm surprised they give out the keys before it has received funding, as that seems like it's open for abuse (playing a pledge and withdrawing it; getting the game it funding fails). Anyway, I already own the game and all the DLC - does anyone know if it will be added to my inventory or simply be wasted if I add it to Steam?

Im thrilled theyre doing this kickstarter, and that each of the tiers will lead to something different. 250k for new expansion, 500k for new engine, 750k for level editor (that would rule so much!) and ofcourse 1M for all that PLUS a true sequel. And even if you just pledge $15 you get the original game + expansions. How awesome is that?